Former teammate reveals overlooked Klay Thompson trait Mavericks will love

Everything changed for the Dallas Mavericks at the trade deadline last season.

They went from being a borderline play-in team to being the best team in the Western Conference in the span of a short couple of months, and Mavs fans are ecstatic for the 2024-25 season to start. Dallas is coming off an NBA Finals appearance last season and they made the right moves to give them the best shot at returning next season.

Dallas addressed their point-of-attack defensive concerns that were prevalent at points in the playoffs by signing Naji Marshall and trading for Quentin Grimes, but their biggest move of the offseason was to fix their poor 3-point shooting that hindered the team's offensive performance in the Finals.

Dallas went out and signed Klay Thompson to a three-year, $50 million deal, and his shooting is going to take the Mavs offense to another level. Thompson is one of the greatest shooters to ever play the game, but he brings much more than that.

Ezeli reminds the world that Thompson is an outstanding teammate

Earlier this week on ESPN's NBA Today, one of Thompson's former teammates from the Golden State Warriors, Festus Ezeli, hyped up something about Thompson that has been overlooked over the last few years.

"Klay Thompson was such a huge boost for morale because of how low-maintenance he was," Ezeli stated.

Thompson's character is something that has been partially overlooked over the last few years because of how frustrated and unhappy he was in Golden State last year, and Ezeli saying this shows the type of person Thompson truly is.

He just needed a fresh start, and the Mavs are going to benefit from him being so "low maintenance," and his leadership as well. Thompson knows what it takes to win at the highest level as he has four NBA championships, and those around him will look to him, Luka Doncic, and Kyrie Irving when the game is on the line.

Thompson never shies away from the big moment, and him being a release valve for his teammates when things get tough in crunch time is going to be huge. While Thompson's on-court leadership is going to be intriguing to see, his off-court leadership is going to be fun to watch as well.

Thompson has already gotten to know many of his new teammates as they took a team trip to Los Angeles to train and spend time together, and he went out of his way to make his Mavs teammates feel at home. He took the team on a boat trip to Catalina Island one day, and they spent their time riding jet skis and jumping off the boat.

Thompson is showing his true colors already before he has even played a single game for the Mavs, and he is showing why Dallas coveted him as a player, but also a person. He is going to be a great fit for this squad, and as Mavs fans know firsthand, chemistry is crucial for being a successful team in the NBA.

This was evident by Dallas' surge down the stretch last season, and the team's lack of chemistry partially contributed to their collapse in the 2022-23 season. Fit is everything in the NBA, and Thompson's fit with the Mavs should work out brilliantly considering how he treats his teammates and "boosts morale."

Ezeli saying this has more weight than any report from last season, and Dallas should be fired up that it looks like they found a true Maverick.